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#1 ·
French Law Guarantees Some Service During Transit Strikes

French parliament passes bill to ensure some public transport during strikes
2 August 2007

PARIS (AP) - France's parliament passed a law Thursday that aimed to guarantee at least some buses and trains would run during transit strikes, partially fulfilling a key campaign promise by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The law was hotly opposed by union leaders, who insisted it threatens French labor's coveted right to strike and pledged to hold retaliatory walkouts in the fall.

The law requires transit providers to inform users which buses and trains are to run during a strike and requires them to reimburse riders if they fail to adhere to the promised schedule.

It also makes it obligatory for individuals to say whether they plan to strike 48 hours before doing so. The measure -- one of the law's most hotly contested -- aims to end spontaneous strikes that regularly hit public transport, notably following attacks on bus or subway drivers.

In the past, walkouts by transportation workers have brought the country to a near standstill, leaving people without any way to get to or from work -- sometimes for weeks at a time.

During his campaign, Sarkozy, a conservative who took office in May, pledged to guarantee at least three hours of public transportation in the morning and evening rush hours during walkouts.

But despite attempts by conservative lawmakers, the law passed Thursday does not immediately guarantee minimum service on France's public transit.

It requires local authorities and transit providers to define the exact meaning of "minimum service." Negotiations are to be completed by next January -- meaning French commuters could again find themselves stranded if unions make good on promises to strike in the coming months.
 
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#80 ·
Yes, that's why the SYTRAl thinks about buying new 3 cars metros for line D and 4 cars automatic ones for line B.


Métro : le Sytral prépare l’automatisation de la ligne B

Le prolongement à Oullins est l’occasion de préparer l’avenir. Les nouvelles rames automatiques n’apparaîtront pas avant 2015

Le métro lyonnais, à l’instar de son grand frère parisien, arrive-t-il à saturation pendant certaines tranches horaires? Le phénomène se fait déjà sentir lors des pointes les plus extrêmes, et la hausse régulière de la fréquentation des transports en commun dans leur ensemble va l’accentuer.
La modernisation des lignes de l’Ouest lyonnais qui se connectent à Gorge-de-Loup avec la ligne D va amener par exemple à cette dernière de nouveaux clients.
Il est prévu que le renouveau des lignes TER de l’Ouest lyonnais double le nombre de leurs voyageurs qui alimenteront aussi le réseau TCL.
C’est un exemple frappant qui s’inscrit dans une tendance plus générale touchant l’ensemble des lignes du réseau de transport urbain.
Le Sytral doit donc désormais non seulement continuer à développer le réseau TCL, mais apporter également des réponses pour l’avenir en termes de capacité.
Dans le cadre du renouvellement des bus, les articulés ont le vent en poupe, la question de l’allongement des lignes de tram se pose aussi.
Côté métro, les priorités ciblées consistent à ajouter un quatrième wagon aux rames de la ligne A, et un troisième à celles de la ligne D.
Mais le métro A a une technologie de plus de trente ans, et cet ajout ne va pas sans générer de grands problèmes techniques.
Le Sytral vient donc de décider de résoudre plusieurs problèmes simultanément, en prévoyant à l’occasion du prolongement de la ligne B (Charpennes/Gerland) l’intégration d’un pilotage automatique sur celle-ci... pour l’avenir.
Ce dernier ne sera pas effectif lors de l’arrivée prévue du métro à Oullins fin 2013. Mais tout sera prêt lors de l’acquisition de nouvelles rames pour la ligne B envisagées à l’horizon 2015. C’est alors que cette ligne deviendra automatique. Ce choix technologique a un surcoût de l’ordre de 20 millions d’euros, par rapport à une solution d’adaptation nécessaire mais plus basique, sans automatisation.
Mais outre la souplesse et l’efficacité qu’elle va apporter pour la gestion de cette ligne, le fait de grouper la commande de wagons supplémentaires pour la ligne D avec les nouvelles rames de la B doit permettre d’obtenir des prix plus attractifs sur ce matériel. Ce choix apporte aussi la réponse à la saturation de la ligne A qui gagnera un quatrième wagon à ses rames en récupérant celles en service sur la ligne B et de même génération.
En attendant ces bouleversements, les rames de la ligne D voient leur aménagement progressivement modifié pour être plus accueillantes.
François Samard
fsamard@leprogres.fr
Source : Leprogres.fr - 23 décembre 2008
 
#87 ·
Yes, that's why the SYTRAl thinks about buying new 3 cars metros for line D and 4 cars automatic ones for line B.

Only 3 cars for the line D? That's not enough! The 2 actual cars are way not sufficient regarding to the frequentation.... and to add just one new car will not slove the congestion of line D during the peak hours! As more and more people use this line daily, they should at least think of 4 cars train!:bash:
 
#81 ·
Yeh when I was in Lyon I saw it, my grand father read Le Progres newspaper.
The line B could become driverless for the extention to Oullins.

The line B was also quite busy between Charpennes and Saxe Gambetta especially between Part Dieu and Saxe Gambetta.
 
#82 ·
Actually, it would become driverless after the extension to Oullins (about 2 years later). Anyway, apart line C, which is too short to be very attractive, the whole métro is busy. Line D must have more than 300 000 pax a day for only 12.5 km, line A has about 260 000 for 9.3 km and line B has about 150 000 for 6.2 km.
That's the same thing for the tram network, and the SYTRAL is to buy new modules for T1 an T2.
 
#83 ·
Saint Etienne

I find the article of Wikipedia quite great, better in english than in french.

The Tramway de Saint-Étienne is a Tram system in the French city of Saint-Étienne, France, its particularity is that is has functionned non stop since its opening in 1881. The first tramway line was steam operated and was opened by the Chemins de Fer à Voie étroite de Saint-Étienne on 4 December 1881, it stretched for 5.5 km between La Terrasse and Bellevue. The CFVE took over the Compagnie des Tramways Electriques de Saint-Étienne lines and steam was last used in 1912. Lines with small patronage were replaced by trolleybuses in 1932 with all but one line closed in 1956 due the impossibility to run trolleybuses on the busiest line of network. The decision to keep the tramway in the 1950s saw the introduction of the famous PCC tramcars to replace 1932 rolling stock and the Vevey-Alsthom tramcars in 1991-1992. The system is operated by the STAS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramway_de_Saint-%C3%89tienne

Two lines
37 stations
11.6 km.










http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tramway_de_Saint_Etienne_-_Tramway_Vevey_-_La_Terrasse.jpg
 
#85 ·
You mean you don't understand?

VAL, which stands for Véhicule Automatique Leger (sorry my french is rusty... so I swear I'm missing an accent somewhere), uses rubber-tired automated vehicles unlike conventional motor vehicles (i.e. Docklands LRV) or linear propulsion vehicles (i.e. SkyTrain).

VAL and Bombardier ART (SkyTrain) share many similarities as they are more of an intermediate capacity system (in between Trams/LRT or low capacity and heavy rail or high capacity).

CDGVAL:


Rennes Metro:


Toulouse Metro:


Orlyval Metro:
 
#93 ·
Does Marseille have a suburban rail system? My video of the TGV to Paris shows the train passing three stations before the start of the LGV Méditerranée, one being La Canet I think. I forget the names of the other two. All three stations looked very rundown though, as if they were abandoned - mostly just bare platforms, no seats or shelter and few buildings.
Those stations are not abandoned but Marseille has unfortunately some of the poorest and roughest housing estate areas you can find in France. Some of them are located next to the railway. And of course vandalism is a big issue there. During the upgrading of the Aix-Marseille suburban line material and tools were stolen everyday. In the newly opened stations between Aix and Marseille the ticketing machines don't take coins, only cards, to avoid vandalism.
 
#92 ·
I'm not very informed about it but Marseille, like allmost every city, have some kind of suburban rail system. The thing is this system is part of something called TER (Transport Express Régional) that is a medium, and short, distance passenger rail service. You can take it to make suburban connection or intercity connection (like Marseille-Lyon or Marseille-Nice). It's really in between.

In the case of Marseille there is several lines radiating from the city. For exemple the line between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence (31 minutes) is concidered as TER but is more suburban than anything else.

But was are far from Metro and light rail service.
 
#97 · (Edited)
And the network is still quickly expanding (before 2014)
the B metro line will be 1.7 km longer in 2013 (in the south, crossing the Rhône river)
the T4 tram line will be extended to IUT Feyssine via Part-Dieu
T1 will be extended to metro B Debourg
a T2 bis is going to be constructed between Les Alizées and Eurexpo
a short T3 bis (1km) to go to the new 60 000 seats stadium
an express tram line using T3 rail continuing to the airport is going to be in service next year.

http://www.sytral.fr/152.0.html

The "RER" is also improving :
a new station in Jean Macé (métro B and T2) will be in service in december
double tracking west lines and new tram-train cars.
 
#98 ·
The "RER" is also improving :
a new station in Jean Macé (métro B and T2) will be in service in december
double tracking west lines and new tram-train cars.
Never heard of this! :? I only know that they are improving the train service for the western suburbs from Gare de Lyon-Saint-Paul.
So what are they going to do exactly on Jean Macé? Build a RER station over the train viaduct leading to Lyon - Perrache?
 
#103 ·
For me a RER or a S-Bahn is a system with at least a trains every 10 minutes (6tph) in the central section in rush hours.

When you speak of RER or S-Bahn people imagine a thing like Paris RER, underground central section with high frequencies.
Lyon or Brussel (RER) are far to this, these cities propose an improved regional train system (called TER in France).
 
#104 ·
For me a RER or a S-Bahn is a system with at least a trains every 10 minutes (6tph) in the central section in rush hours.
For you, but many RER or S-Bahn are not like that. Paris is not THE prototype !

I don't think people imagine a central tunel when speaking about RER. A tunel is only necessary when stations are not linked, that is not the case in Lyon.
 
#105 · (Edited)
Paris is the only RER system existing, so Paris can be see as the prototype of the RER. ;)

Lille Val was opened in 1983, it is the fourth oldest metro system France and the first driverless
The network has 45.2 km and 60 stations, it is the second largest metro system in France.



























 
#106 ·
Paris is the only RER system existing, so Paris can be see as the prototype of the RER. ;)
RER only means "Regional Express Network" and not "The most powerful rapid transit system in the world that only exists in Paris" and moreover I'm not sure that this name is trademarked.
On the other hand, thib8500 used quotes when he spoke about the "RER à la lyonnaise" so it's clear that he wanted to speak about a "RER-like" and not the RER of Paris. Ok he should have use the term "REAL" but who knows what it means ?
You are the first guy to claim that the RER in Paris is not a consistent system (cf your posts on the RER C and D) so how can you say (to summarize): "In my point of view, the RER is like this" ?
To conclude, as you know the name of the TER in Ile de France is "Transilien" and for your information SNCF part of the RER is included under the term "Transilien" so the RER is only a TER (oh what a shame like "in province") !


More info about the regional netwok of Lyon:
http://www.urbalyon.org/sip6Interne...nomFichier=livmetrdeplacem2.pdf&numFiche=2660
 
#107 ·
I'm hoping to ride the Nice tram next month while on holiday. I'd planned to ride the central section between Gare and Acropolis taking in the beautiful Place Massena, but is it worth riding the whole line from start to finish? How long would it take and is there anything worth seeing at Comte de Falicon, Square Boyer, Saint Roch and Pont Michel etc?
 
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